Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals preview, Sunday 8/16, 2:15 CT

Sunday notes…

• SPLITTING THE DIFFERENCE: This is the 19th of the Cubs’ 41 series in which they have split the first two games. They are 9-9 in previous third games, including 3-4 at home. They are 3-3 after having won, then lost, with wins in the only two games played at home. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• THE NUMBER OF THE COUNTING SHALL BE THREE: The Cubs are 12-6 this year in third games of series at home. They finished last year 12-12. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• RISPy BUSINESS: By going 2 for 4 yesterday with runners in scoring position, the Cubs raised their season average with RISP to .250. It had not been that high since May 8, when it was .253 after they went 5 for 15 a Texas in the final win of their second 10-game winning streak. They have played 85 games since then. In the first of those, the next day, the Cubs went 0 for 13, dropping their average to .245. It was down to .217 after they went 0 for 8 in a loss at home to the Rockies on June 16. Since then, it is .295. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• TODAY IN CUBS HISTORY: After using 10 pitchers in an 18-inning win over the Astros the previous day, the Cubs summon Ryan O’Malley from Triple-A and send a limo to pick him up in Round Rock, Texas, where the Iowa Cubs were playing, to drive him to Houston. O’Malley throws eight shutout innings in his MLB debut and the Cubs win 1-0 on a home run by Michael Barrett. It happened 20 years ago today, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2006. O’Malley will pitch in only one other MLB game, six days later at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs lineup was not available at posting time. Please check BCB social media for the Cubs lineup.

Cardinals lineup:

Edward Cabrera, RHP vs. Hunter Dobbins, RHP

Edward Cabrera, as you know, suffered a groin injury while pitching against the Mets June 23 in New York. That was actually one of his better outings, so the injury was truly unfortunate.

So it’s been nearly two months since he threw in a major league game. His last rehab outing, Tuesday for Double-A Knoxville, was really good — five no-hit innings with seven strikeouts. Yes, Double-A hitters. Still.

No word as of the time of this preview as to who’s going off the active roster to make room for Cabrera, but it seems likely it’ll be Javier Assad optioned tp Triple-A Iowa.

Cabrera last faced the Cardinals Aug. 19, 2025 while with the Marlins and trust me, you do not want to look at that boxscore link. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Hopefully things go better this afternoon.

Hunter Dobbins was one of the players the Cardinals received in the Willson Contreras trade last winter. He spent a fair amount of time at Triple-A Memphis this year, and has made nine appearances (six starts) for the Cardinals.

He has made two relief appearances against the Cubs this year with a 5.00 ERA and home runs hit by Alex Bregman and Nico Hoerner.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.

Today’s game is on ABC-TV (full national broadcast, no blackouts). It’s also available streaming on the ESPN App (subscription required). Announcers: Jon Sciambi, David Ross and Eduardo Perez.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Cardinals site Viva el Birdos. If you do go there to interact with Cardinals fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.